'Generation change is complete. It can't be like this...The essential task of Korean baseball identified by Ryu Joong-il is

Nov 18, 2024

The Premier 12 baseball team played against Japan at Taipei Dome in Taiwan on the 15th. The national baseball team lost to Japan 3-6. The national team players leave the ground after the game. Taipei (Taiwan) = Song Jeong-heon Reporter's songs@sportschosun.com/2024.11.15/

The Premier 12 baseball team will play against Japan at Taipei Dome in Taiwan on the 15th. Coach Ryu Joong-il watches the players train. Taipei (Taiwan) = Song Jeong-heon Reporter's songs@sportschosun.com/2024.11.15/

[Taipei (Taiwan) = Reporter Park Sang-kyung of Sports Chosun] It wasn't easier than expected. The result is tears.

Korean baseball has experienced another failure. It received a bitter result of being eliminated from the 2024 WBSC Premier 12 group stage under coach Ryu Joong-il. He produced the results of winning (2015) and runner-up (2019) in each of the previous two tournaments, but in this tournament, he was on his way home without passing the group stage.

It is the Ryu Joong-il, which had been half expected and half concerned even before the departure.

2026 WBC (World Baseball Classic), a generational change focused on the 2018 LA Olympics. Ryu wanted to select young players who were the main players of the Hangzhou Asian Games and APBC (Asian Professional Baseball Championship) to play the tournament. However, even before the convocation, Moon Dong-ju, Noh Si-hwan (Hanwha), was injured, and Won Tae-in, Koo Ja-wook, Kim Ji-chan, and Kim Young-woong (Samsung) were injured during the Korean Series, causing a setback in the composition of the team. In particular, Moon Dong-joo and Won Tae-in, who were expected to play the role of ace, were painful. Manager Ryu tried to find a breakthrough by using the bullpen, which was selected with a large number of finishers.

However, as a result, it failed.

The Premier 12 baseball team played against Taiwan at Taipei Dome Stadium in Taiwan on the 13th. Ko Young-pyo, who allowed a two-run shot to Chen Jie-hsuen following a bases-loaded hit by Chen Chun-wei in the second inning. Taipei (Taiwan) = Song Jeong-heon Reporter's songs@sportschosun.com/2024.11.13/

Ko Young-pyo (KT), who started in the first game against Taiwan, collapsed with six runs in two innings. It was a pity that he missed the timing of the pitcher's replacement just before giving up the bases loaded. He had no choice but to consider the waiting situation for all bullpen members and the remaining game schedule, but the one-beat late replacement eventually became a source of concern. The gap that widened early on stagnated the atmosphere and eventually returned to defeat. The match against Taiwan was a factor that put considerable pressure on the mound despite the situation leading to victory over Cuba, defeat against Japan, and victory over the Dominican Republic.

Korean baseball has realized the importance of starting pitchers on the international stage through this tournament.

Among the starting pitchers who played in four games before the Dominican Republic, Kwak Bin (Doosan), who was in charge of four innings against Cuba, threw the most innings. Ko Young-pyo, the starter against Taiwan, went down the mound after two innings, and Lim Chan-kyu (LG), the starter against the Republic of Dominaka, also pitched only three innings. Choi Seung-yong (Doosan), who started the international competition for the first time against Japan, played one ⅔ inning. Except for Cuba, the rest of the national starting pitchers have pitched more than four innings against South Korea, contributing to stable mound management. Manager Ryu said, `This tournament shows that starting pitchers are important after all. Even if you look at the KBO League, a team with six to seven starting pitchers will eventually win."

The weaknesses of the "Battleship Without a Solution" were also revealed.

The Premier 12 baseball team played against Taiwan at Taipei Dome Stadium in Taiwan on the 13th. Moon Bo-kyung strikes out swinging in the seventh inning. Taipei (Taiwan) = Song Jeong-heon Reporter's songs@sportschosun.com/2024.11.13/

Coach Ryu selected Moon Bo-kyung (LG) as the fourth position vacated by Noh Si-hwan. When Moon Bo-kyung failed to raise the pace in domestic training, the fourth position was given to Yoon Dong-hee (Lotte). However, Yoon Dong-hee only performed below expectations, and Moon Bo-kyung took over as No. 4. Before the Dominican Republic match, Yoon Dong-hee was 77, and Moon Bo-kyung was only 214. Coach Ryu's worries, which revealed his worries during the training period in Korea, saying, `There is no sense of number four,' were the result of not easily scoring points in every game opportunity situation.

Premier 12 is considered a stage below the WBC. However, Japan and Taiwan were also unable to call out major leaguers and failed to form the best team due to injuries after the season. It is true that the entry was set up mainly by young players with less experience than them under the basis of generation change, but it was a competition where the difference in skills was more prominent than the lack of experience.

There are less than two years left until the first stage of the completion of the generational change, the WBC. With the power revealed in the Premier 12, it does not seem easy to achieve the goal. But it's not like you can rely on a veteran for long. We need to solve the task of securing starting pitchers and solvers gained through the failure of this tournament.

ppark@sportschosun.com